In recent years, cameras have acquired an increasing number of functions and many operations have become automated so that the camera may be easily operated by the average user. Because the capacities of the camera's battery and condenser and the power of the motor have had to be increased accordingly, these large internal components have become larger in size. Conversely, however, due to the high demand for smaller cameras, it has become necessary to design the layout of components so that the outer dimensions of the camera reflect a more efficient use of internal space.
An example of the construction of a conventional camera is shown in FIG. 1. A camera body is ordinarily covered by a top cover 1, a bottom cover 3, a front cover 4, a grip cover 7 and a rear door not shown in the drawing. A lens unit 8 protrudes from the front cover 4, and dials 5a and 5b that perform exposure mode selection and exposure correction are located such that they protrude from the top cover 1. Two batteries 2 (typically of the kind having the trade designation CR123A) are often housed inside a grip 10 (indicated by diagonal line shading in the drawing) in series, and a motor, flash unit, etc., not shown in the drawing are driven by means of these batteries.
In a camera having this construction, the height L2 of the grip 10 is more or less determined by the combined lengths of the two batteries 2, and the extent to winch the camera size can be reduced along the grip height dimension is limited In order to avoid this limitation, a method using small CR2 batteries as the batteries 2 has been developed, but because these batteries have a smaller capacity and are more expensive than CR123A batteries, the use of CR123A batteries is preferred. A method has also been considered to install the two batteries side by side, but this increases the space that the batteries occupy along the width of the camera, again limiting the extent to which its size can be reduced.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 60-217351-A discloses a camera using disk cartridge film and having a construction in which the cartridge protrudes tom the camera body. The protruding part is the cartridge bay cover and has no operational function as a part of the camera other than to cover the cartridge.